The Realms
by Britts
Summary: My first Alternate Universe fic (2nd chapter added 5-25-01). Later in the fic you'll notice some connections to some Young Adult Fantasy books as well as "Princess Mononoke." Please r/r with constructive critizism! ^_^
1. In which Dark Men plot dark affairs and ...

The Realms

**The Realms**

By Britts

**Author's Notes: This is the story that's been in the "Infamous In Progress Folder" for almost seven months!O.O!Soooooo…I decided that I could start putting parts up.I don't know how well this is going to go over with all of you "UD" fans.Hopefully you'll like it.I actually enjoyed planning out all of the characters and all.I even did lil sketches of their outfits and everything!You'll notice that a certain young adult fantasy series played a major role in the summaries.^_^PS – The Prophecy was written by DarkSaint and I both ~ Britts**

**Warning:**This ficcie contains (if not obvious here then later) the pairings of Taiora, Jyoumi, Takari, and Koushlei (or Koushiyako or Miyashiro or Yoshiro…whatever).Oh, I also interchange between TK and Takeru, Kari and Hikari, Matt and Yamato, as well as Izzy and Koushiro.Come on people, you can have both names in a ficcie – they're Nicknames!^_^It all depends on what the mood is.Like for me, if my friends are trying to tell me something serious or are scolding me or something, they'll use "Brittany" and if not, they'll use "Britts."O.o;; Well, you're probably sick of my incessant ranting so…ON WITH THE FICCIE!

Prologue

_And the twelve Destined shall come forth_

_From the Realm of the Gods_

_Their souls of fire and ice_

_Wind and earth and soul_

_Shall ban the everlasting darkness;_

A Prince

_Out of the Realm of the Beasts_

_Mind troubled but soul true;_

_Warriors_

_Armed with courage and light_

_Hope and compassion;_

_Nobles_

_To govern the troubled land_

_With sincere and just hands;_

_Healers_

_With trust to mend the torn_

_And cease the bleeding;_

_Mages_

_To guide with wisdom and kindness_

_Of a thousand moons;_

_And, at the last_

_A Guardian of Spirits_

_His soul tarnished and mind aged_

_Savior of the souls of the Realms_

_Men, creatures, and beasts alike_

_Bow before he who sacrifices all_

_To appease the darkness._

_Demons_

_Unholy creatures of the night_

_Prepare for thy end_

The light comes

Withered, gnarled hands placed the browned parchment back onto the elegant table within the cold, stone chamber.Fingers encrusted with jewels and golden rings drummed impatiently against the stained, wooden desk.

"Well?" asked the owner of the restless fingers.The normally warm tenor was chilled in the darkness of evening.

"Well what?" replied the other.His voice was hoarse and wreaked of evil.

"What are we going to do about this?That fool Mage is preparing to bring those so called 'Destined' ones through the portal as we speak."

"Do I sense fear in your voice m'Lord?"

"Of course not!This is a game to me.This is simply an obstacle for me to overcome."

"You speak of these affairs as a game.If you intend to think as such, let me warn you of the consequences should you lose this 'game…'" Standing, the man reached into the folds of his ebony cloak.Withdrawing a rather large, black rat, he placed the horrid creature on the table in front of his disgusted companion.

"What's this?" asked the nobleman.

"A demonstration.Watch."

The rich man's eyes traveled back to the rodent squeaking on the table.Before his eyes, the rat jerked and rolled onto its back, it's legs kicking madly in the air as shrill screeches issued from its snarling mouth.Fine ribbons of smoke rose from every orifice; indeed, from the creature's very pores.The men watched as the revolting creature writhed under an invisible tormentor's torture for a few moments more before it bucked up with a squeal.It twitched in its death throes, then lay still.

The nobleman's eyes widened as he stared at the now-limp thing smoldering on the table.The gnarled hands of the cloaked man reached forward and took the smoking animal from the table with agonizing slowness and hid the thing back in the folds of his cloak.At last he spoke.

"Do you understand, m'Lord?" the dark man asked with contempt.The wealthy man simply nodded dumbly.Visions of the rat's agony replaced with his own fail surged through his mind.He could not fail.The cloaked man smiled and walked to the door.Before leaving, he turned to the other man still sitting at the polished table and said, "I certainly hope you win this game…m'Lord…" With an evil cackle, he left the nobleman to his fearful thoughts and dreadful scheming.

Part I

Sora Takenouchi yawned and stretched as she lay back on the cool grass in the park.She rolled over onto her stomach and looked up at the others that had already gathered there.Tai was sitting on the ground with his hands resting on the soccer ball that had just been bouncing on various limbs moments before.Jyou was immersed in a novel as Mimi rested her head on his shoulder.She flicked her gaze between the book Joe was reading and the others visiting the park on such a nice day.Izzy was helping Miyako with her web page and TK and Kari were off talking together.Every now and then, Tai would look at the young couple with a glare.His "over-protective-older-brother personality" always seemed to make Matt chuckle.

Thinking of the lanky blond, Sora looked over at Matt who sat a little ways away from the others.With headphones in place, and a pen and notebook at the ready if any random lyrics popped into the artistic one's head, Matt sat with his eyes closed.Every now and then they would open to reveal the vibrant, sapphire eyes deep in thought or re-informing himself of what was going on, usually closing them shortly afterward.

_ _

_Forever the bachelor_, Sora thought as she smiled at her friend.The older they all got, the more Matt seemed to want to be positively untouchable.The young woman shrugged and looked back at her boy friend that once again looked like he was about to tackle Matt's younger brother if he even dared to lean against his younger sister.This time Sora herself had to laugh.At the sound, Tai turned to her and flashed a smile.He looked down at his watch and muttered, "And I thought I was always the one to be fashionably late."

"You are…" Matt said leaving his eyes closed, "Ken just stole the bumper sticker that says you are off of your forehead."

Sora and the others laughed as Tai's amber eyes narrowed at his friend before Matt and he both chuckled.Right on cue, a certain blue-haired boy-genius walked up.

"I'm sorry I was so late," Ken stated as he came up to the group as the put away their various items of entertainment to listen to him."Mom held me late to give me the entire 'Now don't get into trouble' lecture." The young man's mood darkened considerably before continuing, "plus I had to stop at Daisuke's to clear up a few things with his parents."

His mood was contagious.Tai was the first to speak."He's still missing then…"Ken nodded."For how long?"

"Four days and going," the younger teenager replied."No one knows where he went; his mom said he wasn't depressed or anything."

"It's not that hard to hide depression.You just have to know what to look for," Matt said softly.

"Dai doesn't strike me as the type to do something like that though…" Kari muttered.

"I don't know…you did turn him down on that date last week…" TK murmured.

"Yeah, but she's been doing that ever since you guys entered seventh grade," Miyako contended.

"True."

"I don't understand it.Miyako's right about it not being the turn down.But I think there's something we're missing," Izzy reasoned.

"What if he was kidnapped?" cried Mimi suddenly grabbing Jyou's collar.She then turned to look at Ken who was staring at her in horror; she quickly let go of Jyou, cleared her throat, and said gently, "Of course, I highly doubt that.He probably just wanted to be alone for a little while."

"Four days is hardly a little while…" Matt said darkly.

"You're one to talk.You were missing for at least a week when we were fighting the Dark Masters," Tai answered harshly.

"And he came back," stated Sora."So maybe Dai will to."

"_If_ he wasn't kidnapped, that is," said Ken.

TK walked up to the young man and touched his shoulder.Ken's worried eyes met TK's own as the blond consoled, "Dai will be back."

"You sure?" Ken asked softly, hope starting to brighten his eyes.

"I'm positive," TK replied.

"Hey, anyone feel that?" Matt inquired suddenly.

"Feel what?" Izzy answered.

Mimi and Jyou simultaneously jumped up and off the bench they had been sitting on with an alarmed cry and stared at it as if it had grown a head.Tai looked over at them, a look of confusion on his face.He then looked at Sora who was looking at the sidewalk.He looked down and watched as a thin crack worked its way between them.

Izzy groaned something about, "Damn plate tectonics…" and Miyako muttered, "Don't worry guys…just a tremor."

"No…something…" Matt stated, his eyes searching around him."Something -- "Before he could finish, the earth shifted violently throwing them to the ground.

"What the Hell…?" Tai asked as he got off of Sora, who he had unintentionally tackled.

"I have no idea," Mimi answered shrilly."In New York we didn't HAVE earthquakes!"

"Well, welcome back to Japan Mimi…" Jyou muttered as he tried to pull them both to their feet.

The earth groaned and the sidewalk cracked down the middle.As the 'quake built in intensity, the street signs and lampposts twisted with metallic shrieks.Fissures split the earth; around them volcanic gasses blasted from them.The trees bent under a surreal wind.

"This is no ordinary 'quake…" Matt muttered under his breath as the others fell to the ground with curses and cries of fright.He looked at the others and noted the terror quickly spreading through the park.Gazing toward the horizon, he watched as an unimaginable apocalypse began unfolding.Something he thought he'd never see in his lifetime was happening.His cobalt eyes stared as black, billowing clouds erupted into the sky.Burning ashes and fumes stung his skin and eyes as he watched in horror.Mt. Fuji had erupted.He turned to the others as they too watched the spectacle in terrified awe.

Suddenly, Matt was encompassed in a white glare as he heard the others scream as they too were absorbed into the white light.He felt all thought leave him as he was viciously thrown into the colorless oblivion.The sound of death and disaster filled his world.

**Author's End Notes: **Hey, that's a new concept for me…"End Notes"Heh heh heh…so anyway, yeah, yeah, and yeah, I KNOW that Odaiba is most likely nowhere NEAR Mt. Fuji, but I needed a way to get them to the Realm without suddenly just having them there.You know?*POOF* isn't a nice way to start a ficcie.I hate it when Authors do that…unless the characters are NATIVES to the AU world (in the ficcie) already.And they aren't here.^_^I hope you liked it and will continue to read this lil series.Like I said above, it's been in the "IIPF" for at least seven months so…^_^Come back again soon! ~ Britt


	2. In which the Destined enter the Realms

The Realms

The Realms: Chapter II

**Author's Notes:** …Loooooooooong time no post….…Anyway, this is the second installment of my Digimon AU series "The Realms."Okay…so that's kinda obvious.Anyway, I know that OBVIOUSLY, the _makers of Digimon_ didn't want a Taiora or Kouyako ending so P to them.O.o;;Hehehe…ANYWAY, I hope you like this one!BTW, I JUST found out that Odaiba is a REAL city!*GAS-gagcoughchoke-P* and I guess Mt. Fuji ISN'T anywhere NEAR there…Soooooooooo, if you find a map or something of the Tokyo area, and there's a volcano SOMEWHERE near there, TELL ME SO and I'll change the name.Okay?Okay.Well, enough with my rambling!Ja matta ne!~ Britts

Taichi blinked rapidly as the world slowly came back into focus.Expecting to see billowing clouds of volcanic smoke and Japan in ruins, he was taken aback by the sight of colossal trees and dense undergrowth.He sat up abruptly and whispered, "Where…where am I…?"Standing up carefully, he spun around in slow circles to get his bearings.

Trees with odd foliage reached towards the heavens as ivy climbed the massive trunks.Colorful flora littered the landscape as the disembodied cries of forest creatures, both earthly and ethereal, drifted on the breeze.

Despite the warm environment, Tai shivered._It's like the DigiWorld all over again_.A sudden crunching of leaves made him look up.He whirled around and came face-to-face with –

"Sora!"

The red-haired girl looked at him with wide eyes.Dirt was smeared on her skin and clothes and twigs were trapped in her matted hair."Yeah, it's me…" she responded as she pulled a stick with a few leaves still attached out of his own tangled hair."Where are we?" she asked.She looked around at the immense vegetation.

"I have no idea…I keep expecting to see Koromon bouncing around a corner…" he replied with a nervous laugh.

"I know what you mean…but if this is the DigiWorld, there's been some _major_ changes."

"Yeah…like; 'where are all the Digimon?'"

"Here you two are!"

Sora and Tai turned to the sound of the new voice and found a small band making their way through the undergrowth to them.Matt and Jyou led the way as Miyako and Kari followed not far behind, their eyes glancing anxiously from side-to-side.Jyou proceeded to hold a large branch out of the way as the two girls followed Matt into the clearing before letting it snap back into position.

"We've been looking everywhere for you guys…" began Matt.

He was interrupted however by Kari as she asked hurriedly, "Have you seen anyone else?"

"No, no one.Not yet at least," replied a worried Tai.

"Don't sound so worried Tai…it seems that whenever we all seem to go through a portal of some sort, we all end up in the same general vicinity," commented another voice.The occupants of the clearing looked up as Izzy, Mimi, Ken, and TK made their way towards them.

"Yeah, and guess who else we found!" Mimi stated as she stepped aside to reveal another familiar face.

"Iori!How'd _you_ get here?" inquired Kari as the group walked to their companions.

"I'm not quite sure, exactly.I remember reading a book in my room, then the earthquake hit, and suddenly there was a bright white light, and…here I am," the younger Digidestined said.He shrugged, at a loss for a real explanation.Apparently, so was everyone else.

"Hey, does anyone hear that?" asked TK.

"Last time someone said something like _that_ the earthquake hit…" murmured Ken as Tai wrapped his arms around Sora.The other couples followed suit.

"No, he's right.I hear it too," agreed Miyako.She looked around her trying to identify the noise.

"It sounds like something's moving…" muttered Sora.

"Yeah, something big…can we get out of here?" requested Jyou hurriedly.

"Either something big…or a lot of little somethings…" said Matt as he looked around the others, scanning the underbrush for some hint of the cause of the rustling sounds.Suddenly, a caravan of creatures trudged through the foliage making the group already in the clearing jump about three feet in the air.The Destined dove out of the way as beasts at least nine feet tall lumbered through the clearing, snorting at the miniscule humans, saliva dripping from their small tusks that protruded from their lower jaw.The Destined stood, awestruck at the sight, too amazed and afraid to move.

As the creatures plodded passed the group, they found that there were _more_ odd creatures following the leaders in an endless solemn procession.Winged, glowing things, no bigger than Iori's hand, fluttered among the larger beings.Humanoids with elongated ears, pierced with multiple gold rings, road horses.Smaller versions of the large creatures with tusks road in bands up to ten in straw-filled wagons.The cracking of whips, naying of horses, and snippets of grunted, growled, and snarled conversations assaulted the Destineds' ears.The foreign languages seemed impossible to translate.

As the traveling band of varied tribes thinned out, a small group of humans followed.Their red robes, lined with gold, were draped about their shoulders.Some appeared to be sleeping while others watched about them for any sign of danger.One of the women looked directly at the Destined.

She stared at the group of eleven as she reined in her auburn mare.She muttered something under her breath and a man ahead of her stopped.Following her gaze, he also stared at the teenagers.A short conversation in the unfamiliar language was exchanged and the two turned their steeds toward the newcomers.They drew their swords.

Tai's eyes widened and at the length of the broadsword; it looked even more frightening than the gigantic creatures at the beginning of the somber parade.Quickly overcoming his confusion, he glared up at the man who suddenly held the tip of the blade under the teenager's chin.

Now that they were closer, it was easier to distinguish the pair's features.The woman had emerald eyes that looked like they'd be able to slice through anything just as easily has the glimmering weapon she held.The man bared a coarse brown beard with eyes to match.His skin was tanned while, in great contrast, his female companion's was pale.The man said something, to which the woman rolled her eyes and replied.Laughing, the man retracted his blade, turned his horse and started to walk away.

"Now what do we do?" asked Kari.

"Well, judging by the sword point that she's _sticking into my back_, I guess we follow the crowd," answered Jyou whose back was arched considerably forward.

"Right…" Tai answered and turned.Taking a deep breath, he followed the path trampled by the clans before them.


End file.
